Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, September 21, 2015

09/21 Links Pt2: Prosor: UN is run by Dictators; PA given 15 Marshall Plans - with nothing to show for it

From Ian:

Khaled Abu Toameh: UN Gives Palestinians Flags, But No Democracy

Last week, the United Nations General Assembly voted in favor of a motion allowing the Palestinian flag to be flown in front of the UN buildings.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership and various "pro-Palestinian" groups have hailed the vote as a "symbolic victory" for the Palestinians. The Palestinian representative to the UN, Riyad Mansour, said that the vote regarding the flag would be "another step" towards solidifying Palestinian statehood.
The 119 UN member states that voted in favor of the motion are apparently convinced that this is a "big victory" for the Palestinians and their political aspirations. But what these countries do not know is that flying a Palestinian flag outside UN buildings is probably the last thing Palestinians need at this stage.
The vote in favor of hoisting the flag is not going to bring democracy, freedom of expression and transparency to Palestinians. The Palestinians do not need "symbolic victories" such as the one concerning the Palestinian flag.
A Palestinian living in the West Bank or Gaza Strip does not really care if his flag is flown in front of a UN building. For Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, there are more urgent matters that need to be dealt with immediately, such as the harsh economic conditions and the repressive measures of the Hamas regime. For those living in the West Bank, economic development, employment and democracy are more important than any flag raised in front of the UN headquarters.

United Nations Run by Dictators, Says Israel’s Outgoing Ambassador Prosor

Israel’s outgoing ambassador to the United Nations derided the international body in an interview on Sunday saying the organization was run by dictators.
Speaking to Israel’s Channel 2, Ambassador Ron Prosor, who has just completed four years of service at the UN, described the UN as a “hypocritical organization that is controlled by the hands of dictators, tyrants and non-democratic nations.”
Prosor also called the UN’s effectiveness into question, painting it as toothless. “Is the UN taking a leadership role in the Iranian matter?” he asked rhetorically. “Is the UN really providing a solution to what is happening in Syria? There is a genocide going on there. The UN, really, when it comes to the central conflicts in the world today, is not at the forefront of the solutions to these conflicts, and this springs forth from its composition.”

Ambassador Prosor's final speech at the General Assembly

“I look forward to the day the flags of our two peoples will be raised side by side, and Israelis and Palestinians live together in peace.
However, instead of trying to guide the Palestinians down the path to peace, you are helping them to ride right off the tracks.
You must tell the Palestinians: Enough with empty symbols, enough with political showmanship, enough with hijacking the UN agenda. Stop stalling, and start negotiating.”
Ambassador Prosor: “In my time here, I have seen the Palestinians use and abuse the UN, time and again. The sad part is: that you allow them to get away with it. You must make it clear to the Palestinians that the only way to achieve statehood is through direct negotiations. As long as the Palestinians believe they can achieve their political goals without making concessions, they will continue to avoid taking the difficult decisions needed for peace.
The real question we face today is not whether the Palestinians will raise a flag, but whether the UN will raise a white flag, and surrender the principles of this institution.”

Human rights activist: The Palestinian Authority has been given enough money to equal 15 Marshall Plans -- with nothing to show for it

Over the last 20 years, various countries, including Canada, have invested over US$30B in the emerging Palestinian state, with little to show for it. Calev Myers of the Jerusalem Institute of Justice explains why.
"The international community made a terrible mistake in 1994," Myers says.
"In order to push for two states for two peoples, they recognized Yassir Arafat as the legitimate leader of the Palestinian people and helped him create the Palestinian Authority."
Before Arafat came to power, much of the money for Palestinian health care and education came from private NGOs.
But starting in 1994, he asked international governments to give him the money directly to build infrastructure.
Instead he shut down clinics and left building projects abandoned.
The money disappeared. Where did it go?
Besides ending up in Palestinian leaders' bank accounts, Meyers says it is also given to Palestinians "sitting in Israeli prisons for carrying out violent crimes against Israelis."
These terrorists are even paid on a sliding scale depending on how brutal the crime was.
So what is the solution? Myers offers some suggestions for change.

Donate to EoZ and help repair the world!

The past few months have been busy as always at EoZ Central.

There were two major themes covered almost exhaustively.

One was Amnesty International, which announced a tool based on lies to prove that Israel was guilty of war crimes in 2014. Nearly every one of Amnesty's tweets about events that happened a year before, claiming that Israel was targeting civilians, was countered by me showing that Israel had a legitimate target for each specified attack.

Even though I provided actual "martyr posters" for many of the people amnesty called "civilian," they have not corrected a single data point, proving beyond any doubt that Amnesty International values anti-Israel lies over the truth.

The second major theme was UNWRA, as a story I came up with last year - showing UNRWA teachers posting antisemitic and pro-terror entries on Facebook - got some serious media coverage, culminating, so far, with the US State Department issuing a wishy-washy memo about it.

Of course, EoZ covered many other stories, such as the Iran nuclear deal, the Temple Mount violence, media bias and many examples of unreported Arab antisemitism. I made posters and cartoons.

If you are going to misuse the term "tikkun olam," you might as well misuse it for a valuable cause!

The EoZ Twitter account has now reached 16,000 followers. The Facebook page has over 4000 "Likes."

I am happy to say that we now have six people contributing to the content of the site. Besides myself, we have

The illustrious Ian, who has done over 1,300 linkdumps that are the best daily roundup of news stories available anywhere
Mike Lumish, who has been writing his column now for about 18 months.
"PreOccupied Territory", who adds a bit of humor to what can seem to be very humorless topics.
Vic Rosenthal, whose insightful analysis has created some memorable comment threads.
"Daphne Anson," who adds much needed historical context to today's news stories.

This all takes time, effort and money. Please donate to help keep the blog going.

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The number of trucks into Gaza keeps increasing

Palestine Press Agency reports that 970 trucks are scheduled to enter Gaza today, including 180 filled with construction materials.

Usually about a hundred truckfuls of goods end up being canceled by the Gaza buyers, but this indicates that the amount of goods entering Gaza keeps on increasing week after week.

Yesterday, 865 trucks entered Gaza. Also, 1425 people crossed the Erez crossing between Gaza and Israel.

Last week UN officials said reconstruction has "visibly accelerated" over the past two months in Gaza.

UNRWA teacher looks to Hitler for inspirational quotes

Ata Aqel works at UNRWA in Jordan.

Last month, he decided to add this inspirational quote to his Facebook page:

"Be a friend, do not wish that you have a friend."

According to him, the author of this quote - which adds to its wisdom, of course - was none other than Adolf Hitler.

This is not the first time we have seen UNRWA workers turn to Hitler for their wisdom, even though none of the quotes seem to be real.

This Syrian teacher says that Hitler said "Some believe they are men simply because they are not women."

An UNRWA student counselor defended Hitler on his Facebook page, saying "no Jews were burned in the Holocaust and Hitler is being libeled by them, when the real Holocaust is in Gaza." Since I reported it he removed some of the worst posts and took out any association with UNRWA on his Facebook page.

This dean of Student Affairs for UNRWA was seen in 2013 to also quote Hitler, twice. Thoses post has been since taken down after the media picked up on my story.

And a geography teacher at UNRWA also found Hitler inspirational. This was also removed after I discovered it in January.

There's a pattern here....

09/21 Links Pt1: Poll: Most Palestinians don't support 2 states, Iran ups funding to Hezbollah and Hamas

From Ian:

Dr. Mordechai Kedar: Solving the Middle East's Problems

The seething mass of problems that plague the Middle East have destroyed the region's' social, economic, political and normative infrastructure, leading to the waves of emigration to Europe that we are now witnessing. During the twentieth century, Europe tried to solve the myriad cultural problems that beset the Middle East by creating the Modern Arab State, cloning the Nation-State it had invented and that suited Europe's cultural needs. The European-style Modern Arab State is a colossal failure, because the Arab population has a Middle Eastern culture, with problems that Europe knows nothing about – tribalism on the one hand, and violence, extremism and a lack of national consciousness on the other.
A striking example of an egregiously mistaken belief held by the West is the naïve and unfounded faith that democracy can flourish in the Middle East. Western democracy is based on a social order stemming from European culture: the belief in equality for all religions and ethnic groups, women's liberation, minority rights and freedom of expression and thought. Add to that the right to choose alternative lifestyles, along with freedom of religion and from religion, a ban on violence and free elections and you have a list that is almost totally foreign to the Middle East. Most of these freedoms are opposed to the spirit of Islam or to tribal culture, but Middle Eastern societies hold "free" elections to create the impression that they have become democracies, although they have not adopted any of the other characteristics of a democracy. Elections are an easily adopted mechanism, but the other elements of democracy are substantive and are therefore difficult, or impossible, to embed in the Middle East.
Today Europe is being punished by a wave of refugees for the sins it committed in the Middle East, those it perpetrated on purpose while taking advantage of the Arab rulers' dependency on the West, as well as those it committed unintentionally.
During this period of soul-searching it is important that the West internalize the reasons behind the troubles that have fallen upon the Middle East. It can then deal with them properly, put aside its own interests, and find solutions that can work in the region – starting with the dismantling of the existing, non-legitimate states and continuing with the establishment of emirates with homogeneous populations on the ruins of those failed states. The Gulf Emirates, with the exception of Bahrain, serve as the model of a type of regime that suits the cultural characteristics of the area and it is imperative that they become the model that is implemented when attempting to solve the problems of the Middle East.
Best wishes for a happy new year.

Poll: Majority of Palestinians want Abbas to resign, no longer support two-state solution

More than half of Palestinians no longer support a two-state solution to the conflict with Israel, a survey released on Monday showed, rejecting the goal that has underpinned four decades of international diplomacy.
The poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, a leading research group in the Palestinian territories, found that 51 percent of Palestinians oppose the two-state solution while 48 percent support it.
The figures were down from 51 percent support and 48 percent opposition three months ago. The survey was carried out on 1,270 people in the occupied West Bank and in Gaza from Sept. 17-19.
The two-state solution - an independent Palestine existing side-by-side with Israel - has been the broad objective of negotiations since the mid-1970s and the overriding focus of U.S.-led diplomacy for the past 20 years.

Arab push to pressurise Israel thwarted at U.N. nuclear watchdog

An Arab bid to pressurise Israel over its assumed nuclear arsenal failed on Thursday after Washington and other powers united to reject it at the U.N. atomic watchdog's annual gathering.
The extent of the rejection - with a larger number of 'no's than a similar vote last year - will reassure Israel, whose relationship with the United States and other traditional allies has been strained by their support for a nuclear settlement with its enemy Iran.
The Israeli Prime Minister's office described the rejection of the motion - which called on Israel to join a global anti-nuclear weapons pact - as a "great victory" for its diplomatic efforts.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had told world leaders before the vote: "There is no room for a debate of this sort while the main problem in the Middle East is Iran's attempts to arm itself with nuclear weapons and its clear declarations of its intention to destroy the state of Israel."
Nineteen predominantly Arab states wanted the International Atomic Energy Agency's member states to express concern over Israel's nuclear capabilities, call on it to join the 1970 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and have the agency regularly report on Israel's nuclear programme.

Eugene Kontorovich: Legislative history and Congress’s increasingly strong case vs. sanctions relief

In this post, I will discuss how the legislative history of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 adds significant support to arguments that the President has not complied with its terms, and that sanctions on Iran cannot be suspended until he does. I will also show how a provision of the statute previously not discussed in this context adds further support to the view that the so called “side deal” with the IAEA is part of the “deal.”
Congressional Standing
The legislative history provides some support to my characterization of the constitutional nature of the injury suffered by Congress – nullification of their ability to vote. As Rep. Sherman explained about the bill: “this bill gives us the chance to have the vote.” Precluding that chance sounds like “vote nullification” as required by the Supreme Court for legislative standing.

Palestine Today reports that there were riots today in the vicinity of the "Bilal bin Rabah mosque," which is in fact the new name given to Rachel's Tomb. Presumably the attackers were targeting Jews who wanted to visit the holy site ahead of Yom Kippur. I did not see any Israeli media write about this as of this writing.

There were also riots outside Joseph's Tomb last night, with 60 Arabs hurling rocks and Molotov cocktails and rolling burning tires at a group of Jews visiting the site. One soldier was injured.

But there have been other riots in Bethlehem over the past couple of days - against the PA. Arutz-7 reports:

In Bethlehem just south of the Israeli capital, Palestinian Authority police are facing protests for very a very different reason, as a viral video showing their far less reserved tactics in dealing with rioters provoked protests outside PA police headquarters in the city.

The video was taken on Friday, and shows PA police attempting to arrest a youth, who just moments before was involved in a violent protest in solidarity with Muslim violence in Jerusalem. When the suspect starts to struggle, the police simply shove him to the ground, at which point some half-dozen officers proceed to kick and beat him repeatedly.

After footage went viral on social media an angry protest outside Bethlehem's PA security headquarters ensued, with demonstrators branding PA leader Mahmoud Abbas as a "collaborator."

From the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem website:

Statement from the Heads of Churches in Jerusalem

We, the Heads of Churches in Jerusalem, wish to express our serious concern regarding recent violent development on Haram al Sharif.

We condemn all threats of change to historical (Status Quo) situation in the Al-Aqsa Mosque (Haram Asharif) and its courtyard, all buildings, and in the city of Jerusalem. Any threat to its continuity and integrity could easily lead to unpredictable consequences which would be most unwelcome in the present delicate political climate.

Muslims have the right to free access and worship to the Al Aqsa Mosque.

There is a great importance of the custody of the Hashemite kingdom on Al-Aqsa Mosque and the holy places in Jerusalem and the Holy Land. We believe that all Holy Sites need constant watchful protection so that reasonable access to them can be maintained according to the prevailing Status Quo of all three Abrahamic faiths.

We renew our call that the existing agreed Status Quo governing these sites needs to be fully respected for the sake of the whole community.

The Heads of churches in Jerusalem
+Patriarch Theophilos III, Greek Orthodox Patriarchate
+Patriarch Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarchate
+Patriarch Nourhan Manougian, Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Patriarchate
+Fr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, ofm, Custos of the Holy Land
+Archbishop Anba Abraham, Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate, Jerusalem
+Archbishop Swerios Malki Murad, Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate
+Archbishop Aba Embakob, Ethiopian Orthodox Patriarchate
+Archbishop Joseph-Jules Zerey, Greek-Melkite-Catholic Patriarchate
+Archbishop Mosa El-Hage, Maronite Patriarchal Exarchate
+Archbishop Suheil Dawani, Episcopal Church of Jerusalem and the Middle East
+Bishop Munib Younan, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land
+Bishop Pierre Malki, Syrian Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate
+Msgr. Georges Dankaye’, Armenian Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate

When they say "status quo," what do they mean?

Every few years, the Muslims have been changing the status quo on the Temple Mount.

From the Jerusalem Post last year:

There has been so much rhetoric about the “status quo” on the Temple Mount – but which status quo are we discussing? That of 1967? 1996? 2000? 2003? 2010? 2014? Each year saw a change in the previously accepted status-quo. Recent news had photos of MK Ahmed Tibi flying a Palestinian flag on the Mount – that is certainly a change in the status quo, if not a political provocation.

So let us be clear – There has not been a steady, continuous status quo on the Mount since the Israeli victory in June 1967. Rather, there have been constant changes in the status quo from the Arab Muslim side, and a continuous erosion and retreat of Jewish presence and rights, aided and mistakenly abetted by the Chief Rabbinate and Israel Police in their quest to maintain what they define as properly religious behavior and public order.

From 1967 until September 2000, Jews went up freely to the Temple Mount with prayer books and prayed silently at will with no police check and no Wakf employees following them. I know because I was one of them. No police searched for prayer books and absolutely no one checked whether silent prayer was being uttered. Several groups of distinguished rabbis in groups of 10 prayed together on a monthly basis.

But this letter goes beyond demanding the "status quo" on the Temple Mount. It demands the "status quo" for Jerusalem itself.

By invoking Jordanian custody of all holy sites in Jerusalem, these Palestinian church leaders are including the Kotel! They make clear what their status quo is - to turn the clock back to 1966 when Jordan controlled the Old City and no Jews were allowed to visit - even as tourists.

And Jordanian custody of the holy sites is a myth.

The phrase "status quo" being used by these church leaders is a code-word for "no Jewish rights to their holy sites in the Old City."

By the way, the Temple Mount is sacred to Christians as well, but Muslims want it to be Muslim only. It is unclear what these official dhimmis would say if the site was closed to them as their Muslim masters would demand.

And while these church leaders fall over each other to ingratiate themselves to their Muslim masters, the Muslims are telling them to go to hell:

(h/t Irene)

Elliott Abrams on @StateDept whitewash of @UNRWA

I had missed this last week from Elliott Abrams at the Council on Foreign Relations

Here is what the Department had to say, in a tweet retweeted by Matt Lee of AP:

The role United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) plays in providing critical humanitarian assistance to more than 5 million Palestinian refugees is indispensable. All sides must respect the humanitarian role of UNRWA, and we expect UNRWA personnel to observe the strictest decorum and uphold its stated policy of neutrality so that it can carry out its critical mandate.

Our commitment to overseeing UNRWA’s neutrality is long-standing, and the State Department takes its responsibility for oversight of UNRWA very seriously. Our oversight is more than an annual checklist exercise; the State Department closely engages with UNRWA throughout the course of the year on all facets of UNRWA’s programs, including issues related to the neutrality of UNRWA staff, operations, and facilities.

We are aware the UNRWA is undertaking internal investigations into allegations that UNRWA staff posted discriminatory messages on social media accounts. We have asked UNRWA to keep the United States informed of the findings of its investigation.

For any additional details regarding investigations, we refer you to UNRWA.

This is an amazing statement.

First, it gives you its general take: UNRWA is “indispensable.” That gives a nice clue about where we’re heading here.

Then, State says it is deadly serious about oversight of UNRWA. It says this four times in this short tweet: we expect UNRWA personnel to behave, we are committed to overseeing UNRWA, we take this responsibility very seriously, and we closely engage with UNRWA all the time.

So what exactly is State doing now in the face of serious charges of anti-Semitic and violent statements by UNRWA officials? How will its oversight be exercised, given that we closely engage and that we take this responsibility so seriously? What happens now?

Nothing. Nothing at all. To be precise,”We have asked UNRWA to keep the United States informed of the findings of its investigation.” If there were any seriousness at State at all, there would at a minimum be a call for an independent investigation. Instead, State is entirely happy with whatever internal investigation–which will almost certainly be a cover up–UNRWA has in mind.

Proof of that is in the tweet’s last line: “For any additional details regarding investigations, we refer you to UNRWA.” In other words, don’t bother us again with this stuff. We’re busy. Go call UNRWA, and sign up for their tweets.

The message is clear: we do not want to hear about vicious anti-Semitic activity at UNRWA. Go away, or go tell UNRWA.

How about this for the statement of which State is incapable both in policy terms and because the Department cannot speak in English:

“If these charges are true this is disgusting anti-Semitic and violent rhetoric. It’s intolerable. We need to find someone independent who’ll look into it, doing a real investigation. Until that’s agreed, we’re suspending our flow of funds to UNRWA and we’re taking this up with Ban ki-Moon immediately. UNRWA provides some important services for Palestinians so let’s get this going fast.”

See here for recent, official Palestinian Authority support for rock throwing.

09/20 Links: Huge rock barely misses baby in car, PA and Fatah officials behind Jerusalem terror, anti-Israel rallies in Jordan

Links from EoZ as we anxiously await the return of the master Ian:

From Twitter:

#RocksKill: This huge rock was thrown through an Israeli family's car windshield today, narrowly missing the baby. pic.twitter.com/mgEXdGFcY9
— Avi Mayer (@AviMayer) September 20, 2015

The Israeli family's car windshield after the Palestinian rock attack this morning. Incredible nobody was killed. pic.twitter.com/7Q1JF9dgKG
— Avi Mayer (@AviMayer) September 20, 2015

Sorry, couldn't find an English-language news story about this as of this writing.

PA and Fatah officials behind Jerusalem terror

The Palestinian Authority and Fatah have been the driving force behind the ongoing riots in Jerusalem that peaked during the Jewish New Year with the murder of Alexander Levlovitch, whose car was hit by rocks thrown by Palestinians. Senior Palestinian Authority and Fatah leaders close to Mahmoud Abbas have called for violence to prevent Jews from visiting the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest religious site.
The following are some of these statements:
"Official Fatah Spokesman in Jerusalem Raafat Alayan called on 'all Palestinian bodies and national and Islamic factions in all regions of the homeland to enlist and go to the areas of conflict in order to 'explode' in front of the occupier and its assistants because of its repeated actions and attacks against the Al-Aqsa [Mosque].'

Why has the brutal beating of two Palestinian teens been ignored by the UK media?

A short video, filmed during clashes on Friday in Bethlehem, which shows PA security forces brutally beating Mahmoud Hamamra, 16, and his brother Ahmad Hamamra, 18, has gone viral within the Palestinian social media.
According to reports, after the beating seen in the clip, the two teens were then taken to a another location where they were again assaulted. Finally, they were taken to a police station where they were allegedly further brutalized. The brothers were reportedly hit with batons and cords, and punched and kicked by officers. PA police also reportedly used tasers all over their bodies. The older teen’s arm was broken as a result of the beating.
Thus far, the UK media has ignored the story.

Just imagine how much coverage the story would have received if, for example, the two Palestinian youths were beaten by Israeli forces.

Not only UK media - all Western media and "human rights" NGOs ignored this story.

‘Brazilian president rejects settler leader as Israeli envoy’

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has told Israel that she is unhappy with the appointment of former settler leader Dani Dayan as ambassador to her country, the Ynet news site reported Sunday.
Rousseff is worried that accepting Dayan as ambassador would be understood as support of Israeli settlements, the report said.
The communique reportedly came as part of back-channel messages between Rio de Janeiro and Jerusalem in an attempt to warn Prime Minister Netanyahu not to go ahead with the appointment. While the rejection of an ambassador by a host country is rare, governments sometimes encourage the withdrawal of certain appointments to avoid diplomatic confrontations.

Rouhani: Don't Take 'Death to America' Chants Personally

When Iranian crowds chant “Death to America” during rallies in Tehran, Americans shouldn’t take it personally, according to Iran's president Hassan Rouhani.
Speaking in an interview with 60 Minutes due to be broadcast on Sunday, Rouhani explained that the famous Friday ritual is a reaction to previous Washington policy decisions that hurt Iran.
Despite the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, many in the United States are still convinced that Iran, which is ultimately led by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, remains bent on their country's destruction.
Opponents have often cited the regular appearance of chanting anti-American crowds as evidence of Tehran's true intentions, but Rouhani attempted to reassure his CBS interviewer Steve Kroft and the wider audience.
"This slogan that is chanted is not a slogan against the American people. Our people respect the American people," he insisted, according to AFP.

Does the same apply to "Death to Israel?"

Sadly, I no longer read much fiction.

When I was a kid I sat up an entire night reading The Two Towers, by J.R.R. Tolkien. It was like watching a movie in my head long before Peter Jackson did his remarkable job with those films. The next morning I implored my parents to take me to the book store to pick up The Return of the King.

And while Dark Waters is, of course, no Lord of the Rings, it did manage to transport me into reading a book like I am watching a movie mode.

As a writer and blog-owner I am often offered advance copies of all sorts of books, both fiction and non-fiction... even graphic novels concerning the overthrow of Iran in Operation Ajax under Kermit Roosevelt, if you can imagine. My typical response to the agent is to say, "Sure. Send me what you have and I will take a look and if I have anything to say about it, I will do so."

Usually, I do not.

Dark Waters, by Chris Goff, however, is great fun. As someone stewed in the ongoing misery that is the Arab-Israel conflict, reading an action-packed thriller set in Israel was a welcome change of pace.

The reason that I agreed to do this review is because it is one of the first novels in a long time that has dragged me out of my historically-minded, sociologically-minded, politically-minded head for awhile in a work of fiction very much grounded in history, sociology, and politics.

Dark Waters is the first of Goff's Raisa Jordan novels.

Raisa, or Rae, is an agent for the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service in Israel endeavoring to protect American Judge Ben Taylor and his daughter, Lucy, from Palestinian terrorists intent on retrieving vital data for their operations in a cell phone they believe is accidentally held by the Judge and his daughter. The Israeli government wants Taylor and his daughter out of Israel, where they can be better protected in the United States. But Lucy is sick and Taylor is hell-bent on getting her the alternative medical procedure that he believes she must have to save her life and that means they must stay in Tel Aviv.

When I picked up Dark Waters one of my first thoughts was that this novel was going to make Alan Dershowitz jealous. Other than his support for an Obama second term, I have nothing against Dershowitz. On the contrary, I very much admire his stalwart support for the Jewish State of Israel, as well as his works of fiction, but his thrillers set in Israel have nothing on Chris Goff.

The book is taut and includes the character of Batya Ganani, a kick-ass ninja-like female Jewish Israeli operative that reminded me of Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow (Natalia Romanova) in Marvel's Avengers franchise... until Rae Jordan takes her down hard.

Ganani of Shabak is not Natalia Romanova, but I would not want to face her in a dark alley, either.

One thing that should be noted is the book's political balance. One of the difficulties that writers have, if they wish to write fiction set in Israel, is just how sensitive people can be on the topic... particularly among those of us who happen to be Jewish pro-Israel advocates.

Is she being fair to Israel? Is she being fair to the Jews? The IDF? This is treacherous ground, politically, and it takes a balanced writer to tread that ground if she is writing a thriller of international intrigue set in Israel. In my opinion Goff did a good job... which would probably indicate to my colleagues on the other side that this is a pro-Israel novel.

Well, it is a pro-Israel novel in the sense that Israel is not castigated, but it is certainly not an anti-Palestinian one, either.

At one point, early in the book, Goff refers to some in the IDF as something akin to "a pack of wolves."

If that sounds harsh, do not worry, it is. This is not a novel that sentimentalizes the Palestinian national movement, either. Quite the contrary. Nor is Goff a big fan of Neturei Karta, but who is?

The book, ultimately, is born from Goff's personal experience taking care of her own daughter in Israel.

As Goff wrote at Israel Thrives:

When I visited Israel in 2001, the circumstances were stressful. We were there getting alternative medical therapy for our eleven year-old daughter, who at the time was extremely sick. Originally there for six weeks, we ended up staying two months. Our time there served as the catalyst for my international thriller, DARK WATERS. As my daughter began to get stronger, we explored Tel Aviv, then moved outside to visit Haifa, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Masada, Tiberias and the Dead Sea. Venturing out took a lot of resolve. In 2001, Israel experienced over 40 suicide bombings, including a car bombing in Tiberias involving a vehicle we had parked close to when visiting the marketplace that morning. It was the first time I had ever been afraid to leave the house, go to the movies, eat at a restaurant or ride a city bus.

But it was out of such experience that Dark Waters was eventually born. I will look forward to the next Raisa Jordan novel.

Michael Lumish is a blogger at the Israel Thrives blog as well as a regular contributor/blogger at Times of Israel and Jews Down Under.

Morning storming (video)

Palestine Today reports that

A group of settlers on Sunday stormed the courtyards of Al Aqsa Mosque under the protection of the occupying forces.

Eyewitnesses reported that 43 settlers and an element of occupation intelligence stormed into the al-Aqsa mosque.

In the same context, Israeli occupation forces prevented women in front of the Chain Gate from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque, as they have been addressing and cheering at them.

So how do these Jews look as they are rampaging through the Al Aqsa Mosque with no women to stop them?

Here they are this morning:

Look how they are defiling the holy spot with their filthy feet!

UNRWA assistant director (and future leader) wants to ignite a new Intifada

Meet Reema Shalabi, an assistant director at UNRWA.

She passed an UNRWA course in "Leading for the Future:"

She is a big advocate of Palestinian kids having the "Right to Play:"

And here is the type of play she has in mind for teenage boys:

The text says "Ignite it and don't remain silent | #Third_Intifada"

Sounds like this UNRWA employee is advocating violence.

Since UNRWA claims to take these sorts of reports very seriously, and it would be hard to deny that Reema is an UNRWA employee this time, we'll see if anything is done about this.

Some of the previous postings I had found are no longer up on Facebook. Maybe the State Department message got UNRWA scared and they are considering my reports more "credible" than before.

(h/t Ibn Boutros)

Abbas can say anything and the media will never criticize him (poster)

Why doesn't any reporter ever confront Mahmoud Abbas with his bigoted and often ridiculous statements?

Last year I published a list of questions reporters never asked Mahmoud Abbas:

1. What, specifically, have you done to prepare your people for peace with Israel?

2. Followup: Twenty years after Oslo, 60% of your people say the five year goal of the PA should be the destruction of Israel. Isn't this from your own state-run media and school curricula?

3. Why does the PA name institutions after terrorists who targeted innocent civilians? Isn't that inconsistent with the message you are giving to the West?

4. Why is there still daily incitement on PA TV against Israel?

5. Do you believe, as Arafat did, that there was never a Jewish Temple in Jerusalem? Do you realize that this position is at odds with what Muslims said openly before 1967?

6. Describe your position on "normalization" with Israelis today. Can Israeli pro-peace groups visit Ramallah? Would you allow an Palestinian-Israeli sports camp?

7. Why did you threaten your citizens who dared to shop in a Jewish-owned supermarket that has low prices?

8. Recently you said that you believe that the Holocaust occurred. You wrote a book that claimed that it was exaggerated.Were you lying then, or are you lying now?

9. Do you really believe that Jews are raising dogs and wild boars and training them to attack Arab farms, as you have stated?

10. Do you really believe that Hamas would accept Israel's existence if you reconcile with them? Do you believe that Hamas still subscribes to its charter? Why or why not?

11. As leader of Fatah, why do the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group still exist? How do they get funded? Why didn't you denounce their shooting hundreds of rockets to Israeli civilians? Aren't you against that?

12. If they do not report to you, then why do you not distance yourself from them? And why did you say they were dismantled when they clearly weren't? Why did you allow them to hold an armed parade recently in Ramallah?

13. Do you agree with the Fatah platform that terrorism is legal under international law?

14. Why does some 6% of the PA budget go towards terrorist prisoners and released terrorists?

15. Do you consider the Mufti of Jerusalem who collaborated with Hitler to be a hero?

16. If you are so interested in peace, why did you go out of your way to meet with child-murderer Samir Kuntar?

17. You have publicly praised terrorists released from Israeli prisons, even embracing murderers.How do you reconcile that with your claims to be against terror?

18. Why did you, in September 2014, praise a terrorist who targeted Jewish children at a circus?

19. What percentage of the PA budget goes, directly or indirectly, to Hamas?

20. Can you explain your statement in 2013 that "it's better [Syrian Palestinians] die in Syria than give up their right of return"? How many Syrian Palestinians have died because of that position?

21. Do you support the rights of Lebanese Palestinians, if they choose, to become citizens of Lebanon? Why or why not?

22. Why are there still Palestinian "refugee" camps in the West Bank? Do you not consider their residents to be full citizens of Palestine? Are you keeping them away from having permanent homes in your country for a reason?

23. In 1950, Israel told UNRWA that it would be insulted to have an outside organization be the primary support for refugees, and it mainstreamed Arabs into becoming full citizens within a couple of years, negating their need for perpetual UN support. Do you disagree with that sentiment?

We can add more:

24. Do you really believe that Israel has engaged in genocide in Gaza, as you claimed in 2014?
25. When you say you don't want Israelis on the Temple Mount, are you including Israeli Arabs or only Jews? Would you allow non-Israeli Jews to go to the Mount and silently pray? Why or why not?
26. Would you allow Jewish settlers to remain in their homes if they agree to become Palestinian citizens?

Mahmoud Abbas will be in New York to address the General assembly this month. At some point he will almost certainly meet with reporters. If the past is any guide, none of them will ask any of these questions, and instead toss him softballs to give him a reason to rail against Israel.

The fact that no one asks these questions reveals two things: Reporters are not interested in opposing the false meme of a moderate Abbas going against a hawkish Israeli government, and that they do next to no research on their own and rely on their own circle of other like-minded reporters as providing them with the only facts worth knowing.

Every question I wrote here is backed by research and facts. But you won't find most of them ever reported in the mainstream media.

And that is the real scandal.

09/19 Links: Reykjavik mayor withdraws Israel boycott (for now), more Palestinian attacks, Saudis to head UN human rights panel

A quick post-Shabbat linkdump from EoZ:

IDF strikes in Gaza after rocket fire

The IAF struck three terror targets in northern Gaza overnight as a direct response to the rocket fire emanating from the territory last night. Two rockets were fired from Gaza, with one being intercepted by the Iron Dome system which was recently deployed to south on the backdrop of tensions over Jerusalem.
One rocket fired from Gaza fell in an open area inside the city of Sderot in a residential area, damaging a bus and a home Friday night before a second round of code red sirens was heard in the south, this time in the city of Ashkelon.
One rocket were shot down over Ashkelon just after 11:30pm by Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system for the first time since Operation Protective Edge in 2014, just three hours after the rocket strike on Sderot.

Weekend sees violent escalation

The weekend after Rosh Hashanah was marred by violence in Israel, with riots in the Shuafat refugee camp and in the At-Tur and Issawiya neighborhoods, Molotov cocktails that wounded border police fighters in Jabel Mukaber, Palestinians wounded and arrested, another attack on the Jerusalem light rail, and rocket fire in the south. This is a still incomplete litany of the violent incidents that rocked Israel this weekend (Friday and Saturday).

Jewish Lives Matter: Obama & World Silent as PA's Abbas Calls for Murder of "Filthy" Jews

The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) is calling on President Obama and other world and Jewish leaders to forcefully condemn the Palestinian Authority (PA) dictator Mahmoud Abbas' call to murder "filthy" Jews and "filthy" Christians to prevent them from "defiling" the Temple Mount and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (which are the holiest places in the Jewish and the Christians faiths). Abbas promised that those who attack Jews and Christians would be martyrs who will go to paradise. This is an immoral Nazi - like outrage. Jewish and Christian lives matter.

Reykjavik mayor withdraws Israel boycott

The capital of Iceland's decision to ban Israeli products is to be withdrawn, Reykjavik Mayor Dagur Eggertsson told the Icelandic Broadcasting Service RÚV on Saturday, according to Iceland Magazine.
he magazine quoted Eggertsson: “Yes, the decision was poorly prepared. In the past I have taken great pride in preparing all big decisions thoroughly. I’ll admit here and now that I am angry with myself for not doing that, and for not having prepared the decision as well as I would have liked to. This was very unfortunate.”
While the statement may seem like backtracking, the magazine noted that the mayor intends to draft a new proposal that is more specific in its wording.
He earlier explained that he had intended to call for a boycott only of goods made by Israel in the Palestinian territories, not a blanket boycott of all Israeli goods.